Foot support and protector.



No. 892,652, PATENTED JULY 7,1908

P; DAHLMANLL.

FOOT SUPPORT AND PROTECTOR. I

APPLIQATION FILED FEB. 14,.19Q8- WITNESSES: INYENTOR FRITZ DAHLMANN, OF SAN FRANGISOO,.CALIFORNIA.

Foo'r surronr AND rixorno'roit.

i Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed February 14, 1908. swarm. 415,903."-

Patented July 7, i908.

To all whom it may concern:

citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco and State of California, have invented new and useful- Irnprovements in Foot Supports andProtectors of which the following is a specificathe greater ortionof the Weight.

tion.

' invention relates to an improvement in supporting and protecting devices for" the feet of those who are compelled to standfor long periods. g

It'consists of a pad conforming to the irregularities of the sole, and in details of con- 15 struction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which-' Figure 1 is a plan view. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the outside edge. Fig. 3 is a similar, view of the inside edge. F1g. 4 is a section on line X-X, Fig. 1. I

Where persons have to stand verycon-' stantly on their feet, in theoperation of cer tain machines, and for other purposes,'-such as in bread-making, the weight constantly. brought u on the protuberant bones of the heel andt e front portion'of the foot soon causes the feet to become so sore that it is impossible to stand or walk, 'and'if continued" under these conditions, it is liable to produce". serious results tosaid bones. Y I

It is the object of my invention to so form the surface 'upon which the foot rests, that the hollow of the foot beneath the instep will be, pro erly supported, and so that that portion 0 the rounded-heel bone which would normally rest'upon the surface and carry a great portion of the Weight of the individual, will be relieved by a concaved pocket, so formed that the sides of the heel willreceive That portionbeneat the inste and on the inside is raised or. thickened to lbrm a su port at this 1 point, and the front portion 0 the foot is allowed to rest upon a depressed and yielding portion, so that the Whole formation of the ower part of the foot is easily supported, and its normal outline is closely followed.

To carry out my invention I have formed a sole which may be lacedwithin any ordinary shoe. In the ormation of this sole I employ a rubber or elastic pad A, which is provided with an oval opening 2, of such shape and character as to substantially fol" low the outline of the bone of the heel.

This

.tain its proper pad is made thin about the periphery of the k opening,and isthickened up around theou't- .Be it known that I, FRITZ DAHLM'A N,

side, as, shown at 3','to any desired extent, so

that the outside portions of the heel will have continued forward, andnarrowed sufficiently 1 to follow the shank of the shoe. Through this portion and up to just beneath and be hind the ball of the foot the inner sideof the pad A is thickened to a greater degree than shown in the'heel portion, as at 4, while upon the outside and beneath the outer joint bones near the center of thefoot, the ad is again made thinner, as at 5, so as to al ow it to depress to suit the conformation of this portion of the foot.

It is again slightly thickened beyond this depression 5, and the front edge is curved tOSUll? theconformation of the soft and hard portions of the foot just back of and beneath the ball of the foot, as shown Z is a pad of thin leather having essentially the same contour as that ,of the pad A, and

rests upon-said pad. It may, if desired, be stitche Y or, otherwise secured so as to mainaway and will follow the higher portions in the same manner; thus providing a perfect support for the foot, but of such contour-that all ortions will be properly and proportionate y supported thereon. The lower surface of the pad A may be corrugated or roughened in any suitable mannerto prevent its slipping. It has been found'by practice that perfect comfort is obtained by the wearer who may be compelled to stand in a single position for as much as nine hours in succession, and that all soreness vanishes, and the feet become normal. It will be understood that such a pad may be made to extendonly to a point in front of the heel portion instead of extending the full length beneath the inste such a short pad being in many, cases iu icient, by reason of its protecting the Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent 1. A pad ada ted to be worn inside of the shoe and shape to conform to the shape of the shoe, said pad consisting of a unitary member having its upper surface provided with elevated and depressed portions conosition, and bein .thin, it will sink in all p aces where the pa A is cut forming to the concavities and elevations of the bottom of the foot, one of said elevations substantially occupying the hollow of the foot beneath the instep, and a superposed o acter described, an elastic ad having thin pad shaped to conform to the first named pad and forming a continuous foot rest, and capable of moving to follow the outline of thelower pad.

portion beneath the outside joint of the foot and the correspondingly sha ed thin coverpiece of leather adapted to fol ow the contour of the elastic pad under the weight applied thereon.

3. Ina device of the character described, an elastic pad having a lower roughened surface, an opening made beneath the heel with a thin peripheral margin, the pad being thickened outwardly to the edge around said open-f ing, thence continuing forward and made thinner upon the outer edge beneath the outer joint of the foot, thence'thickenin to the front edge, said edge being bevele or chamfered and curved to fit the transverse contour of the foot behind the ball, thence continuing backward on the inside, and

. thickened to form a supportfor the hollow of the foot beneath the instep, thence merging into the heel portion, and a superposed sole of thinner material adapted to follow the contour of the pad under pressure, 4

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses:

GEo. H. STRONG, ELISABETH OEHLER.

FRITZ DAHLMANN. Y 

